Sunflower

98

Then suddenly my computer screen went black. In panic and shock my hands lift from the keyboard and mouse, and my eyes widened. Then I scanned around.

“What the fuck just happened?” I asked, ducking under the table. I knew the electricity wasn’t out, since the lab’s light was still on, but none of my computers were working. “Shit!” I said as I pushed my chair back while standing up.

When I turned around, my eyes stopped on Bucky with the extension cable in his hand-plugged out. I looked at him in shock.

My eyes shifted between the cord in his hand, to his face. He knew what he did, and he didn’t look bad about it at all.

“What the hell, James?” I scoffed. “Are you crazy?!”

“Give me the hard drive Amber.”

“Are you crazy?” I nearly yelled. “What the hell do you want with the hard drive?”

He looked from me to Natasha, who I noticed looking just as confused as I was. “I need that hard drive, Amber. There are things on there that you cannot find.”

“Cannot find?” I asked, stepping forward. “You don’t even know what’s on that hard drive, James. It’s over ten years old. This thing is outdated. You-”

“I need that hard drive, Amber. Why do you think we returned it?”

I looked at him blankly, while Sharon appeared behind him. “Are you kidding me?” I scoffed. “You could have destroyed it-”

“And ruin time? No. Look. Can I just-”

I stopped listening. It was as if my ears went deaf.

How could a stupid hard drive be so important to Bucky? It contained so much, and not even everything from the original. We could bring down so many hydra bases and organisations. Why was he so demanding in having it?

“What’s so special about this hard drive, James?”

He went silent.

“James, what are you not telling me?”

“Bucky?” Sharon questioned, stepping forward. “What’s happening?”

“Amber,” Bucky continued as if not hearing Sharon. “There are files that you could have copied that should stay unseen…”

“How would you know?” I scoffed.

He gulped, taking a step forward. “Amber, please…”

“You couldn’t unlock it. How do you know what’s on the file, James?”

He looked at Natasha, then back at me. His grip loosened around the cord, but he didn’t let it go. He took another step forward, nearing me; and the computers.

“I need that hard drive, Amber-”

“My name is Melion,” I bit, stepping forward. “And you are not getting that hard drive.”

That hard drive was my only key to finding Ellen, and the truth. Ellen was the last lead I had to a case back in that time, and I needed to know if she was okay. That hard drive could tell me so much more than I knew, but what was Bucky hiding?

Suddenly in one movement, he dropped the cord and grabbed my wrist. I didn’t realize what he was doing until he pushed me aside, heading from my computer. Natasha jumped forward, kicking him in the stomach, before grabbing the hard drive from the USB port. She then threw it to me, where I caught it while getting up from the floor. Yet, when I turned to the door, Sharon had her gun onto me.

“Put the hard drive down, Amber.”

I immediately kicked onto the door on my left, making it fly open. Suddenly a rack of knives slipped out, and I didn’t stop to grab one, throwing it straight at her. She managed to fly to the right, sending the knife flying into the wall. I then grabbed another one, turning just on time as Bucky charged towards me. I lift it to his throat, making him stop.

“What’s on this hard drive, James?”

“I can’t tell you, Amber. Please.”

He looked at me with begging eyes, but I just couldn’t. “Wanda!” I yelled. “Code yellow!”

Before we both knew it, the entire house seemed to glitch, and then everyone blacked out. I crashed to the floor, and I knew, so did everyone else.